Aethelred Oakes
''THE RIGHT HONOURABLE AETHELRED OAKES MP The well-known Conservative politician ÆTHELRED HAROLD ALFRED OAKES was born on January 1st 1951 in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire. His parents were Alfred and Norma Oakes. Alfred ran a PR firm until he died in 1976; Norma died a year later. According to family tradition, the Oakes family has a lineage that stretches back to Anglo Saxon times - hence the family tradition of Saxon names. In 1983 he married his childhood sweetheart, Melinda Sigurdsson, a half Icelandic historian. Their twin boys, Ethelbert and Alfred II, were born on his 33rd birthday, on New Year's Day 1984. Away from politics, his interests are history, sport (skiing, football, cricket and motor racing), cooking, holidaying, classical music (Bach, Handel, Vivaldi and Weiss), rock music (Iron Maiden) and jigsaw puzzles. He enjoys home computing on his ZX Spectrum 48k and driving his Lamborghini Countach. Oakes is a smoker (L&M Red cigarettes). Favourite drinks are gin & tonic, courvoisier, drambuie and port; he has an impressive personal collection of rare vintage ports. A lapsed Jew, he is agnostic by faith, though he can still speak Yiddish fluently! 'EDUCATION AND EARLY ADULTHOOD' Aethelred Oakes attended the Thomas Russell Infant School and John Taylor Comprehensive in Barton Under Needwood, Staffordshire. He became the first student at the Comprehensive to attend Oxford University, where he studied history and politics. In the workplace, he joined his father's PR firm, where he worked on projects as diverse as Gerald Ford's election campaign for the US Presidency and a World Health Organisation tubercolosis campaign. Having always been interested in writing and politics, in 1975, he began working as a UK-based journalist for the New York Times. After joining the Conservative Party in 1978, he soon became the election agent for candidate Patrick McNair-Wilson, who was a personal friend of his. In 1979, he moved to live in Truro, Cornwall, where his interest in politics was to become an addiction... 'EARLY POLITICAL LIFE' After becoming active in local politics, Oakes was elected as a County Councillor for the Boscawen Ward in Truro. By the 1983 General Election he had been selected as a candidate and was elected as MP for Plymouth Sutton. In October 1984, at the Conservative Party Conference, he was due to speak but did not do so as a result of the IRA bomb attack that killed the Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and other politicians. Oakes later recalled: "I couldn't sleep, and was sitting on the sea wall having a cigarette when the bomb went off. At that moment, I knew inside that the whole world was about to change. When I heard that Margaret (Thatcher) was dead, I felt an inner rage, and a burning hatred of the IRA, that would never die." Some would later point to this event as a pivotal moment in his career, as Oakes would go on to fight Republican terrorism with more zeal than shown by any other Home Secretary. A few weeks later, and only 18 months after first entering Parliament, Oakes entered the ensuing leadership contest, but stood down before the first round. He later said, "I threw my hat into the ring, but never realistically expected to do well. I'm glad I didn't win the leadership, to be honest - James Whitelaw was by far the best candidate at that time". '1985: PROMOTION TO THE CABINET' James Whitelaw instantly saw Oakes' potential, and Oakes entered the Cabinet as Home Secretary on Dec 16th 1984, 16 days shy of his 34th birthday, and 18 months and a week after he had first entered Parliament. Oakes' first year in the Cabinet will be remembered for the huge social problems the country faced - and overcame - and the numerous reforming and modernising Bills he put before the House. Oakes is known as a political attack-dog with an acerbic style. It isn't that he "doesn't suffer fools gladly" - he won't suffer them at all. A maverick politician, he leans towards fiscal and social liberality, yet retains a hard-line attitude towards anti-social behaviour and all forms of criminality wherever there is a victim. In 1985, Oakes was also made First Secretary of State, and later, Deputy Prime Minister. After sending over 5000 troops to Northern Ireland to take out the IRA leadership, resulting in the deaths of dozens of their top brass, Oakes became the darling of the right wing press. As 1986 dawned, Aethelred Oakes was one of the most popular members of the government, both among his peers and the electorate. Then, questions began to be raised... and in April 1986, James Whitelaw called a snap General Election. Oakes maintained in his memoirs: "James called the election too late. I urged him to do so a fortnight before, when we were flying high in the polls, but the rest of the Cabinet was against the idea. We would have minced Labour. As it was we ended up in government again... but with the bloody Liberals as coalition partners!" '1986: COALITION GOVERNMENT' The Conservatives suffered a devastating night at the polls, with a total wipeout in Wales and only a single survivor in Scotland. As news came through that the Alliance had stopped Labour gains, the Conservatives started adding up the figures. A coalition including the Northern Ireland loyalist moderates wouldn't be enough for a majority... but if the Alliance could be split, then it would be 'killing two birds with one stone'. The Tories opted to go for the Liberals, who could not resist the opportunity of government. As the details of the Coalition Government were finalised by James Whitelaw, Oakes fought a hard internal battle to keep his own position of authority within the Conservative Party, and to keep the Party on top in the aftermath of an election disaster. First, he gave up his title of Deputy Prime Minister, but kept the title of First Secretary of State. This would mean that he was the stand-in Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader in the event that Whitelaw should be incapable of leading for whatever reason. Oakes also decided to move departments, and asked to be allowed to take over as Secretary of State for Transport in April 1986. "That's the only decision I've ever made that I regret", said Oakes in his autobiography. By May, the new Home Secretary had left the Conservative Party after a row with the Prime Minister - and the post came 'up for grabs' again. "Fortunately, I was in the right place at the right time", said Oakes. "James Whitelaw offered me a way out of twiddling my thumbs over such awful things as Civil Service meetings regarding congestion charges!" 'CONSERVATIVE LEADERSHIP' In August 1986, the Prime Minister shocked the country by resigning as Conservative Party leader. In his resignation speech he praised Oakes and recommended him as his successor... and therefore, the next Prime Minister. A three-horse race would decide the leadership - with Matt Doy and the Chancellor, Dr Christian Ashworth the other contenders. Oakes offered to speak at the ''Say No To Oakes Campaign Rally in Durham - which he was quite proud had sprung up as soon as his nomination was announced, but the organisers declined to respond to his offer! The results of the leadership contest were as follows: Oakes - 162 Ashworth - 81 Doy - 64 Suddenly, Aethelred Oakes was the Prime Minister! POSITIONS HELD 1980-1983 County Councillor - Cornwall County Council (Truro: Boscawen Ward) 1983- MP for Plymouth Sutton 1985- Secretary of State for Home Affairs & Justice* 1985- First Secretary of State 1985-1986 Deputy Prime Minister April 1986 Secretary of State for Transport *Except for April 1986. ''BILLS BROUGHT BY OAKES TRADE UNION DEMOCRATISATION & EMPLOYMENT ACT 1985 A hard-hitting response to the illegal Miners Strike, this was the most comprehensive union legislation of its day, forcing the trades unions into democratic representation of their members. INDEPENDENT POLICING COMPLAINTS AUTHORITY ACT 1985 This Act allowed for the transparent overseeing, by an independent body, of complaints regarding policing. CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT & REHABILITATION ACT 1985 Oakes looked to halt re-offending and violent crime with automatic prison terms for violent criminals and a focus on rehabilitation inside and outside of prison with this overhaul of the criminal justice system. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT ABOLITION ACT 1985 (Written by Oakes, presented jointly with Francis Urquhart, Shadow Home Secretary) Despite public opposition and a threatened backbench revolt that didn't materialise, Oakes reacted to the potential capital punishment for Patrick Magee. LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 1985 This Bill abolished the GLC and Metropolitan County Councils in a move that caused an additional furore on account of its infamous 'Clause 13', which stopped the promotion of homosexuality to children in schools. SOCIAL SECURITY ACT 1986 With the Social Security Bill, Oakes wished to cut the cost of the benefit system whilst making it more efficient and "fairer both to those who receive from it and those who pay into it". The Bill allowed for Housing Benefit to be extended to elderly and infirm people who wished to live with their families, and limited all benefit payments to include no more than three children. It also amalgamated various benefits into a single Individual Living Allowance. TERRORIST GROUP PROSCRIPTION ACT 1986 Following Operation Flavius, Oakes decided to ban terrorist groups, and proposed this Act in order to set up a list of proscribed organisations. The controversy over whether or not to include Sinn Fein dominated the end of the debate. In the end, they condemned terrorism and were taken off the list. '''ANIMAL WELFARE ACT 1986' (Written by Oakes, presented jointly with Liberal leader Tom Simpson) This modernising Bill gave animals rights and made sure that owners and carers of animals took responsibility for them. Surprisingly, this Bill was opposed by the SDP. SEX CRIMES ANONYMITY ACT 1986 Gave statutory anonymity to alleged victims and perpetrators of sex crimes. This Bill received widespread support from both sides of the House. ELECTION RESULTS '' '' '1983 GENERAL ELECTION - PLYMOUTH SUTTON' A.Oakes (Con) 25,203 (55.12%) A.Puttick (Lib) 13,516 (29.56%) F.Holland (Lab) 6,358 (14.30%) S.Shaw (Eco) 470 ( 1.03%) Majority 11,687 '1986 GENERAL ELECTION - PLYMOUTH SUTTON' A.Oakes (Con) 21,133 (46.90%) B.Tidy (Lib) 15,497 (34.24%) R.Maddern (Lab) 8,627 (19.06%) Majority 5,636